The National Virtual Program for Professional Advancement (NVPPA)
Build your career in the United States
Did you work as a nurse, a teacher, a mechanic, an accountant, or in another job before you came to the United States? Do you want to train for a new career here?
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) can help. This program helps refugees who arrived in the United States in September 2026. We can help you plan your career, take classes or training, and pay for the costs to get there.
The program is free. It is online and by phone, so you can join from anywhere in the United States.
What does the program give you?
If you join, you will work with a career navigator. This is a person from the IRC who helps you plan and reach your career goal. You will talk by phone or video.
The program includes:
- A Professional Advancement Plan. This is your written plan. You and your career navigator write down your career goal and the steps to reach it.
- Career support. Your career navigator helps you find a school, a training program, or a service that reviews your foreign degree or license.
- Classes. We offer online classes on how to look for work in the United States, how to write a resume, and what United States employers expect. We also offer classes for specific careers, such as health care.
- Help paying for costs. You can ask for funding for approved costs that help you reach your career goal. See the next section.
- Job support. Our staff can help you look for a job, apply, and prepare for interviews.
NVPPA helps pay for your career costs
The program can pay for costs that help you reach the career goal in your Professional Advancement Plan. You can receive up to $12,000 for eligible costs that we approve.
This is not cash. It is not a loan. We pay the school, the testing center, or the company directly. You do not have to pay the money back.
- Classes at a school, a college, or a training program
- Fees for tests and licenses
- A service that reviews your degree or license from your home country
- Books, software, tools, and equipment you need for your class
- Uniforms and safety gear
- Rides to and from your class or training
- Childcare while you are in class or training
- First, you and your career navigator write your career goal in your Professional Advancement Plan.
- Then you ask for help with a cost that is part of that plan.
- Our staff check that the cost is allowed and that it matches your Professional Advancement Plan.
- We check that the school or company is licensed or approved.
- Then we pay the school or company directly.
Sometimes you may pay for something yourself first. Keep your receipt. In some cases we can pay you back, but you must ask us before you buy.
Every cost must be approved first. We cannot pay for a cost that is not in your Professional Advancement Plan.
How the program works, step by step
Fill out the short application online. It asks for your name, how to reach you, your work history, and what you want to do here. If you cannot use the form, you can call us or email us instead.
A career navigator calls you. Together, you complete your enrollment. We will ask to see documents that show when you arrived, such as your I-94.
You and your career navigator talk about your skills, your work history, and your goal. You write your Professional Advancement Plan together. The plan lists your goal, the steps to reach it, and the costs the program can help with.
You attend an online orientation about the program. Then you take job readiness classes. You may also take classes for your specific career.
When you are ready, your career navigator helps you ask for funding. We review the request and pay the school or company directly.
Our staff help you search for jobs, write your resume, apply, and prepare for interviews.
Can you help me join?
- Email us at advance@rescue.org for help
- We can provide an interpreter. You can speak with us in your language.
Can I be in other programs too?
Yes. This program does not replace your other services. You can still work with your resettlement agency and your other programs, such as Matching Grant.
Tell your career navigator if you already work with a job counselor somewhere else. We will work with them so you do not do the same thing twice.
You must fulfill the requirements of Matching Grant and Refugee Support Services as a priority. No training through NVPPA can interfere in Matching Grant or Refugee Support Services requirements and obligations. Your Career Navigator will only approve trainings that align with your rapid self-sufficiency in those programs.
Common questions
No. The program is free.
No. This program does not give you cash, so it does not change the benefits you already receive. Ask your career navigator if you have questions about your case.
No. The program is online and by phone. You can live anywhere in the United States.
You can still join. It does not matter which agency helped you when you arrived.
The program runs until September 2027. Start early so you have time to finish your training.
We cannot promise you a job. We will help you look for one and prepare for it.
Yes. We only share your information when we must, and we follow the rules for this program.
When does the program start?
NVPPA is a new program. The award starts on October 1, 2026. Before we can serve clients, IRC must hire staff and put program and finance procedures in place.
We expect to begin formally enrolling and serving clients no earlier than November 2026.
We understand the urgency of serving eligible clients. We will launch as soon as the staff, the procedures, and the finance structures are in place, so that the program follows the rules of the United States government and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Applying is the first step. You can apply now. Our staff will begin reaching out to people one by one starting in November.
How can I start?
Fill out the application. It takes about 10 minutes. After you apply, a career navigator will contact you.
You can also email us. Tell us your name, your phone number, the date you arrived in the United States, and the language you prefer.
For partner agencies and IRC staff
Do you work with a client who may be eligible? You can refer them to this program.
Clients are eligible if they entered the United States as refugees, traveled in September 2026, and arrived before October 1, 2026. Eligibility does not depend on which agency resettled them or where they live now.
Use the referral form below. Please share the client’s name, contact information, preferred language, and arrival date, and confirm the client agreed to the referral. A career navigator will contact the client directly.
REFERRAL LINK: Partner & IRC Staff Referral Form
If your client already works with an employment specialist, please tell us. We coordinate so that services are not duplicated.
Find your local office
Select or search for your city or state in the United States to find an IRC office near you.